I am about ready to order my shortened, custom radiator from Walker. My car is a '31 Model A on 1932 rails with a '32 grill shell and '32-style hood and radiator support rods running to the firewall. I know I need the bottom hose low on the passenger side. But, where do you guys like to put the top hose? Top driver side, or centered? The thermostat housing on my sbc is in the middle of the engine and I'm running a low-mount alternator, so it isn't in the way. Can any of you offer pics of your radiator top hose routing to help me decide?
you need or should have it on the oppsite top corner on a cross flow but I am not sure if it matters all that much with verticle tubes. Either/or I'd put it where it gives the best clearance.
Realize you said SBC but I am using a standard SBC radiator with my Ford engine. This will let you see where Walker puts them on a standard radiator. Don't really see any reason to deviate from that location myself. SPark
In my channeled 32 roadster I had a hot rodder who operates a radiator shop build mine. Top hose is in the middle for what I think is a better look as it is symmetrical. He knows how to build a radiator too. Never gets hot and probably runs too cool a lot of the time. 160-180 F is normal operating temperature. I hate cars that boil!!!
Yeah, you guys are figuring my question out better than how I asked it: left top or centered top? The first issue I see is clearance from support rods, so I will likely go with top left, but I too am a symmetry lover, so I kinda want to put it in the middle.... let’s see more recommendations and photos? You guys help me a lot with visualization and weighing pros/cons. Someday I will be the old geezer on the forum advising others, but that’s a few years in the future. No offense to the geezers! I’m using this first build (finishing a half finished build) as a classroom to prepare for a landspeed roadster scratch build that has been in my head for 40 years.
Brassworks built mine 8 years ago and it is at the top center. Runs 180 all the time except coming home from the LA roadsters meet two years ago when it was 108° out, then it ran 190° steady up and down the mountains.
Mine in this car is in cheap $140 ebay with over 20,000 miles on ( Radator ), Gold valcovers is over 400 inch , purposely done to make look stock & shitty !!! to get a Race, Headers over fenders is big inch motor sbc with 195 stat ,over 650 hp with 5 blade fan plus i run chevy staight 6 water pump relacation that put the fan in center of rad , SBC Chevy make most HP at 225-230 degs , I have both walker 800 & Brasswork 1,100 (Flatheade Rads) The 32 & other model A , both have 2 inlet and outlet I just cap Off the other two depends on the motor combination I'm running instead of buying more radiators
Here's mine with the upper hose going to the right in order to clear the generator. Ironically, the generator is no longer there since it went up in smoke and the replacement 1- wire alternator is larger in diameter and wouldn't clear the front carb. It was a Walker rad that I switched the filler neck and upper hose locations on since both are the same diameter holes in the top tank. Probably not as good as the diagonal outlets, but we do what we need to at the time.
I know mine is a Y Block, but you can get thermostat housings in different angles to make it work for you. This is how I ran mine. Works just fine.
My old beater is not very pretty but the hose is in the middle. HRP All my 32's had the top radiator hose in the middle. HRP
If I recall, I trimmed this section out of a longer hose. I wish the thermostat housing weren’t billet, but it was all I could find with correct angle.
That's the closest thing I've seen in a picture to something that might work in mine... The top inlet on my radiator is to the left of center, I have a fixed breather tube and am using a mechanical fan on the water pump. I could either snake the radiator hose to the left or the right of the breather, but I think there's more room to go from the right. The one good thing is I haven't purchased a water neck yet, so that's flexible. Did you have to cut either end of that hose? Happen to have the part number for that? Anybody else have hose suggestions for this? Thanks
Scott, Buy a swiveling neck with the O-ring seal, makes installation and finding the right hose easier. Even with that said I had to trim some length off my hose. I don't have the front breather tube but my alternator is in the upper left hand side which I had to work around.
I have seen the top hose centered or off center to either side. Part of the beauty of the SBC is that there are goose necks in several configurations. Straight up or angled to either side, they even make swivel goose necks that you can point where ya want it and then tighten it down. They are versatile. If it were mine and I was having a radiator built I would look at it really hard and then decide which way I wanted it to go. Me being me I would just decide by what I had at my disposal. Just for general information: One thing to consider is that you want your fill point be above the goose neck. Sometimes that involves putting an inline radiator cap in the top hose. Then you want to configure everything based on your fill point.
My Top hose is centered. I made a bracket to spread out the radiator support rods to fit the air scoop.
Some great ideas here, makes my shopping list a little shorter. ^^^ Great bracketry there, @ModelARon.
I have no idea how many deuce/SBC Walker radiators I've used over the years and they had the top inlet on the left hand side. A few years ago I bought a deuce tudor project and it came with a new Walker. It was the first one I had ever seen with the inlet centered. Must have been a special order?
Ya my Walker is also on the left, I'm asking around now if anyone makes one in the center. I want to put A/C in it and this Walker 5 core is so thick (5 core) I will have to try another brand.
The Jalopy Journal
